GFC killed 250,000 Australian jobs

A QUARTER of a million Australian jobs have vanished during the global financial crisis - with 22,000 jobs lost last month alone.

A QUARTER of a million Australian jobs have vanished since the start of the global financial crisis - with 22,000 jobs lost last month alone.

The chance of another interest rate cut faded yesterday, when shocking unemployment data drove the Australian dollar to its lowest level in more than three years.

Job-creation in Australia during 2013 was the weakest in 17 years - and all the extra jobs were part-time.

Australia now has 722,000 people out of work - 45 per cent more than at the start of the global financial crisis.

The unemployment rate, which rose 0.1 percentage points to 5.8 per cent in December, only remained stable because thousands more Australians gave up the search for work last month.

Australian Bureau of Statistics data released yesterday shows that 223,900 workers have joined the unemployment queue since December 2008, when the unemployment rate was 4.5 per cent.

The bleak jobs data knocked the Australian dollar to 88 US cents yesterday -its lowest point since July 2010.

Commonwealth Bank economist Savanth Sebastian said the job losses were surprising.

"We were expecting 11,000 jobs to be created (last month),'' he said.

"We need 15,000 jobs created every month to keep the unemployment rate stable so we aren't creating enough jobs across the economy.''

Mr Sebastian predicted borrowers would miss out on another interest rate cut when the Reserve Bank board meets next month.

But the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry warned the economy was "bleeding jobs'' and demanded the Reserve Bank cut interest rates.

"The rise in the unemployment rate would have been much more pronounced if the participation rate (of Australians in the workforce) hadn't fallen in the month to reach an almost eight-year low of under 65 per cent,'' its acting chief economist, Burchell Wilson, said yesterday.

The ABS data shows the number of employed Australians fell by 22,600 last month to 11.63 million people.

An extra 8000 Australians joined the unemployment queue last month.

The number of jobless Australians jumped 9.5 per cent during 2013, while the number of working Australians grew just half a per cent.

Full-time jobs dwindled by 31,600 last month - offset by 9000 extra part-time jobs.

The official data shows that 67,000 full-time jobs vanished during 2013 - while 122,100 part-time jobs were created.

In NSW, the unemployment rate fell from 5.9 to 5.8 per cent last month, despite the loss of 10,100 jobs during the month.

Unemployment in NSW reached 224,800 people last month - a fifth more than in December 2008, at the start of the GFC.

In Queensland, unemployment is now two-thirds higher than it was at the start of the GFC, with the jobless rate jumping from 3.9 per cent in December 2008 to 5.9 per cent last month.

An extra 5100 workers joined the dole queue in Queensland last month, with 148,100 people unemployed - a 66 per cent increase since 2008.

In Victoria, unemployment is now 49 per cent higher than it was at the start of the GFC, after the jobless rate jumped from 4.6 per cent in December 2008 to 6.2 per cent last month.

Victoria lost 26,900 full-time jobs last month.

In South Australia, the unemployment rate fell from 6.8 per cent to 6.7 per cent last month, saving 800 people from the unemployment queue.

Despite bucking the national trend last month, South Australia's unemployment rate remains well above the December 2008 level of 5.3 per cent.

Unemployment levels have risen by one-third during the GFC, tipping an extra 15,400 South Australians onto the unemployment queue since 2008.

South Australia now has 58,100 jobseekers.

In Tasmania, the unemployment rate remained bogged at 7.7 per cent last month - well above the 4.7 per cent rate recorded in December 2008.

The number of jobless Tasmanians has soared by 62 per cent, from 11,700 in December 2008 to 18,900 last month.

The Northern Territory's unemployment rate fell from 4.4 to 4.2 per cent last month after 500 new jobs were created.

The NT jobless rate remains higher than the 3.8 per cent recorded in December 2008.

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